: Re: The art of clickbait captions We all have seen at least one of these clickbaits (or some variation thereof): "single mom discovers the meaning of life with a simple trick" or "billionaires

@Moriarity138

Vote Up Vote Down

Use a definite article (like the word this) prior to a hypernym (like the word thing), where using a more precise sub-ordinate noun (referent) would betray all necessary information to decide if you should click it. In the example below, if there's no highway 12 in your area: you wouldn't.

There was a number of fatalities resulting from this incident. – partofspeech.org

De-clickbaited:

There was a number of fatalities resulting from [the crash on highway 12].

I can't think of a hypernym for famous, which is the problem. With that word you've already laid all your cards on the table; I don't want to be famous... just like how there's no highway 12 in my area.

The rich and powerful do this.

Now that's some clickbait. Because (who doesn't want to be rich and powerful?) you're actually talking about celebrities, whom in the grand scheme of things, aren't all that powerful or rich. So, we're back to fame, and now I don't even care what 'that' was, because if being rich and powerful requires fame then I'm out.

(0)

Login to post a comment!